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Marcus Rhodes (Original Character)
Character History Working class lad. As true with many working class families the Rhodes were rather conservative. His father, like his father before him worked in the coal industry since leaving school, and had now worked his way up to being one of the managers at Maltby Main Colliery near Rotherham. His mother was a house wife and they lived in a roomie semi-detached house in the nice part of Sheffield, with his younger sister Katie. Marcus spent a lot of his early youth reading books and learning to play the piano, later the gutiar and trumpet. Due to this and the fact that Marcus showed no interest in any 'real man stuff', Marcus and his father had a very strained relationship. Anything to please a father. At the age of 13 Marcus joined South Sheffield Squadron 367 of the Air Training Corps. Thruthfully he only did it to please his father. While their relationship didn't improve Marcus found that by at least being involved the strain was much more bareable, and surprisingly for Marcus he found that he actually enjoyed himself. not making friends however he did throw himself head first into all activities and relised his passion for runnin g. He went on the represent South and West Yorkshire wing at cross country and always placed in the top 3. Through the air cadets Marcus also took up Judo, learning to enjoy the sport and appeasing his father somemore, before leaving the UK he achieved his first dan grade. Marcus made the decision to finish high school at the age of 16 and study Mechanical and Production Engineering BTEC course at Sheffield College, without even realising it Marcus was choosing to do something his father would aprove of. Marcus learned of his powers at the age of 15, he started actually knowing what people were feeling, it made people think he was much more of a freak then he’d already seemed, from then on he seemed to talk to people less, then one day that year the school bullies cornered him in the toilets and attacked him, part of the way through while they were taunting him, he could feel the anger they seemed to have and he couldn’t shift his mind it was all he could focus on, when he somehow made the water from inside the toilets cover the group, who promptly left him there. However knowing his father wouldn't aprove he kept it to himself gradually learning small control over his abilities. The end of "happy families". Frank Rhodes was a bit of a gambling man and on one occasion actually managed to win big, using the winnings Frank took his family on holiday abroad for the first time, the destination Miami. Everything changed the day his sister got stabbed. A young man was trying to steal their money and panicked, she was bleeding a lot, Marcus thought he could use his power to slow the bleeding, concentrating on his own feelings, it was working but due to exhaustion and his panic he lost control of his empath block, feeling his sisters dying emotions, which in turn made him lose control of the bleeding, Katie bleed to death and he blamed himself. His parents seemed to realised what had happened and from the expresion on their faces and the single word uttered by them, "freak", Marcus knew he was no longer welcome and fled. Starting a new life in America, Marcus slept where he could and made a small amount of money by acting as a freelance mechanic, he managed to keep this up for 6 months, before one of the places he was spending the night caught on fire. Marcus was trapped. There was a tap near him, turning it on Marcus used his powers to atempt to put it out, however not having the control or enough power to be able to succeed Marcus lost conciousness. Only to awake in hospital to Xavier asking him to come to the school, Marcus accepted as he longed for somewhere he could call home without the fear of being rejected. A whole new life. After arriving at the school Marcus was shy and as such kept himself to himself, mostly because he was scared to put himself out there and meet people, scared that he'd find no friends. However he couldn't avoid meeting people all together and found himself growing close to Gabriel Betancourt. He couldn't stop himself from careing deeply about him and what happens to him after finding him in the forest slitting his wrists. Marcus helped clean him up and made sure he was there for him. Only a couple of days passed after the event when the school was unexpectedly attacked by the purifiers. Marcus found himself terrified being shot at, watching his new home burn and no clue what to do. Eventually with help he found himself in the danger room, injured and bloody but still alive. They thought they would be safe unfortunalty for them the danger room got stuck on an extremely dangerous level with safety peramiters turned off. The fight for their lives started again. Marcus hasn't dealt with his feelings from that night. So much happened, students died in front of him with nothing he could do to help. Gabe kissed him in the middle of the attack. Eventually it ended but for Marcus it stayed with him and he began having nightmares. One calm year. Marcus spent the summer between his first and second year with Gabe and his family. His feelings for Gabe were new and Marcus didn't know what to expect however Gabe never pushed him about his feelings or the nightmares he was experiancing. The summer was relaxing and helped Marcus realise he wanted to have a relationship with Gabe. They offically became a couple on returning to the school August 2009. Over the year Marcus got more involved with the school and made a number of close friends, mostly female, including, Lizabeth Tanner, Ivy Rossum, Elle McNabb, Holly Delaney and Alicia McCollough to name a few. His nightmares became less frequent but still bothered him from time to time, because he never confronted his problems. He started becoming more involved with missions at the school, including Enter project birthright and the team assembled to protect Tara Mitchell for her concert. Deadly crush. Being a mechanic Marcus fixed cars for a lot of different people, some of these included girls who didn't know anything about cars and ignored all the lights that go off right till something goes wrong. One of these girls was Aimee. However things kept going wrong with her car, and she kept calling him or requesting him from the garage he worked at. However it didn't take long for the girl to start claiming that they were together even though he already had a boyfriend. Marcus didn't know how to handle it, he didn't want the girl to actually get into trouble and beside the fact that she'd accused him of sleeping with all his female friends and inisisting they were together she hadn't really done anything. However as with most things, left alone they tend to get worse and Marcus knew he was going to have to do something about it after the girl physically assulted one of his friends and kissed him, sending him into anaphylactic shock, she'd been eating nuts before kissing him, which he's severely allergic too. Leaving Ivy to have to save him with his epi pen. Before Marcus could work out what to do he found himself involved in a near fatal bike accident. The only thing that prevented it from being fatal was his friend Holly who arrived on sence shortly after and used her healing powers to save his life. However his injures were that extensive that she could fix him completely and he fell into a month long coma. Recovery, death and new love. After receiving extensive injuries to his right leg and foot and broke his right arm, his leg and arm were in a cast for a long time and he spent a few months in a wheelchair before moving onto crutches, Slowly but surely Marcus developed the ability to walk unassisted again. Marcus knew he had a lot of help and his friends had been some of the best help he could get with helping him recover. Both his roommates that year helped him with so much, he'll never be able to thank Ryan Hurlock or Devin Hart enough for all the help they gave him. However there were deplays to his recovery as later in his healing process he found himself being attacked by Fenix Fisk. Christmas that year proved to be an extremely sad time for him. One of his best friends Ivy died and then Gabe dumped him. He was sad angry and had no idea what to do and turned to drinking a bottle of rum. Of course this led to an extremely drunk Marcus who upon waking up the next morning only clad in his boxers in a bed that wasn't his with guy he barely remembered making out with a lot the night before, with no clue whether he'd just lost his viginity or not. The man was Thomas Northington. Spending the next few months avoiding TJ and spending a lot of time with DJ with growing conflicted and confused feelings for both the men. After dumping into TJ Marcus decided that maybe he should see how thing go as he didn't think that there was a single chance Devin would return his feelings. Later he'd realise how wrong he'd been. Marcus had asked DJ to help him to swim, it was meant to be an extremely helpful way to work on physical theropy. DJ proved to be extremely sweet and caring making a picnic for the first day too. During the conversation over food Marcus had been completely shocked to learn that DJ had feelings for him too. Discovering this as DJ kissed him. After much debate and many coversations with his close friends Marcus had made a decision. He'd been honest with both men before about his feelings for both of them, he refused to lie and hated that his decision was going to hurt one of them, however there wasn't much he could do and Marcus choose DJ where he knew his heart truely laid. During this time of conflicted feeling, Marcus got promoted to a senior X-man, it was one of the proudest moments of his life. However still recovering Marcus found himself feeling extremely useless at the turn of events. Things started to get better for Marcus he had a stable relationship, the conpensation money from is accident had cleared which he'd used to become 20% owner in Northwood garage with one of his friends and colleges. Eventually Marcus knew what he had to do and he proposed to DJ shocking the other man in the process, but non the less recieiving a yes. Powers and Abilities Empath Marcus can feel the true feelings of others around him, although he isn’t attuned to what the feelings always mean he is gradually learning by the contact he now has with different people. He can tell when someone is lying due to the shift in emotions, but he isn’t attuned to doing this and as such he can only really tell with people he knows well. If he knows a person well he can tell their feelings apart from someone else’s. If he focus’s of a person’s feelings he can follow it to where the person is. Slight liquid manipulation Using his and other people emotions he can control a limited amount of liquid. Depending on the how thick the consistency of the liquid is depends on how much he can control at once. If it is just water he can control up to a small pond at the moment. He can block his mind off from other people emotions and as such also from other empaths and telepaths, but stronger ones can break through. Special Skills *Mechanic *Musical, able to play, piano, guitar and the trumpet *Black belt and 1st Dan in Judo *Skilled Driver Weaknesses All though he can block his mind from others some strong emotions will require more effort to block and also strong telepaths and empaths could break his block although he would know that they are doing it. Using liquid control dehydrates him, so he needs to drink plenty of water, if he uses it for a prolonged amount of time it can lead to passing out from dehydration. Also if someone has a really strong emotion, or there are a lot of emotions around he gets headaches and as the severity of it goes on, nose bleeds and can lead to passing out. He has no other defence to other people’s powers so is vulnerable to them, and as he gets dehydrated people with fire or heat related powers will have more of an effect on him quickly. Personality While Marcus is shy and usually rather timid about making friends, when he does make them he is extremely loyal to them. He will always put their needs above his own, and defend them with his life. However he does find it hard to open up to people even when he trusts them,it's more out of a fear that once he tells them what he's feeling and want's bothering him they will want nothing to do with him. That and a fact that he feels that his pain isn't something worthy of sharing with them. Marcus is stubborn and wont back down from what he believes is right. Which sometimes will get him into more trouble then it's worth. While he's slow to anger it doesn't mean he's easily forgiving, he'll remember and mistrust people for their choices, but he'll always try to be polite in the process. Relationships Lovers Gabriel Betancourt Gabe was one of Marcus first friends and later first love interest. They became good friends in an intense situation where Marcus had found Gabe slitting if wrists. Marcus had removed the blade from Gabe and then promised to help the other male including to hold him while he slept. It wasn't long after this that the Purifiers attacked which lead both the males to be locked in the danger room while it tried to kill them. The intense situation and the fear that they would die caused Gabe to kiss Marcus during the middle of it. Both survived extremely injured but alive. Marcus spent the summer staying with Gabe and his family where they learnt more about each other and built on their relationship. They offically started dating upon returning to the school. The pair spent a busy but happy year together before things started to go south. After Marcus' accident Gabe wasn't around for him or really there for him causing a distence between them that grew. Gabe eventually dumped him after confessing he'd kissed someone else. While at first Marcus was extremely angry and upset about it over time he moved on, even becoming happy for the other guy. While their friendship will never be what it was before Marcus will never forget Gabe and what he has done for him. Gabe helped him realise who part of him was, he was his first love and his first kiss, those things will always be apart of him. Thomas Northington Marcus first met the teacher TJ while extremely drunk, he'd turned to the booze because he was feeling extremely low at the time, Gabe had only recently dumped him and Ivy one of his best Friends was dead. The alcohol only worked for that one night, however the side effect of not really remembering what happened the night before, only knowing that you at least made out with them and waking up only in his underwear was enough to prove to Marcus that he shouldn't drink again. That night led to Marcus actively avoiding the other man, and it was a few month before they managed to talk again. Where Marcus agreed to go on a date with him. Marcus called the man Jack because no one else did and he liked that it was a nickname only he had. It was perfect everything a date should be but Marcus felt like he was missing something. Marcus had been honest to him from the start about how he had conflicting feelings. Unfortunatly Marcus relaised that the thing missing was in fact a someone and had to tell TJ that he was choosing the other man. It broke Marcus' heart to do and he felt awful about the whole thing. Devin Hart Marcus first met DJ when they were assigned to share the same dormantary, there was a little awkwardness at first because Gabe, Marcus's boyfriend at the time was also DJ's ex. But they soon learned to put that aside and become friends. Their friendship grew after Marcus' accident when DJ spent a lot of time helping him recover and helping him with basic daily needs. Over the course of time where DJ was caring for him and before and after Gabe dumped him Marcus started developing feelings for the other man. However not believing that DJ could possibly feel the same way about him Marcus kept it to himself and started dating Thomas. It wasn't till Devin actually kissed Marcus that he realised the other man was interested in him. Marcus was honest with both of them that he needed space and time to figure out who he wanted to be with and eventually after talking with his friends and listening to his own heart he choose DJ. The couple spent a busy but enjoyable year together before Marcus surprised them both and proposed marriage. He was delighted when DJ said yes. Friends Ivy Rossum Probably one of if not Marcus' best friend. Marcus met Ivy about six months after he'd arrived at the school, after the purifier attack. Their friendship started based on music and then grew stronger over time. Of course they both had busy lives and sometimes it meant they bearly had chance to hang out. However more often then not they're time together is often evolving around music. One such time was in the music store when Marcus' stalker Aimee approached. After acusing Ivy of being one of Marcus' 'women' and kissing Marcus, who proceeded to have an allergic reaction despite the obvious irony Aimee had been eating nuts before hand. Ivy and Aimee managed to get into a little bit of a fight one that ended promptly when when Ivy broke her nose. Ivy died just after Christmas 2011 and Marcus was devistated. However when she retured from the dead in a different body and with no memeories it was Marcus who realised that she was Ivy by seeing the scars, at first he was shocked, didn't beleive it, thought his mind was playing tricks on him, eventually he helped her. He asked Ivy to be his best man, and in turn was delighted when Ivy revealed she too was getting married, however Marcus was devistated to find out that Andrew had cheated and they'd split up, despite Ivy claiming to have moved on and dating another man, Marcus wasn't sure her heart was really in it. Lizabeth Tanner Elle McNabb Holly Delaney Marcus first met Holly at the same time her met Elle at the firework show for Prof X's birthday, where both being Brit's neither of them knew it was illegal until actually involved in the moment. Seeing each other around the school they remained good friends. After Marcus was involved in his bike accident Holly was the first person on sence and effectivly the person who saved his life. While Holy didn't heal all of his injuries she managed to heal the life threatening ones preventing him from dying. Despite Marcus' personal feelings on being healed this did not strain their friendship. Later they bonded more over a shared dislike of Elle's current love interest - Arthur Sottomayor. After Holly moved back to England for university they remained in contact mostly via email. Aiko Chigusa-Mitchell Alicia McCollough Family Frank Rhodes Dorothy Rhodes Katie Rhodes Trivia *Alergic to nuts. *Can't swim, even though DJ has been trying to help him learn the skill still eludes him. *Despite being gay Marcus still believes and follows Christianity, beleiving in the core principles of loving someone for who they are not because of things they can't change. *Marcus enjoys to cook, although doesn't often get the time to do it, given the chance he'll be glad to whip anything up for anyone. *Prefers not to be healed, believing that injuries that he substains are his to bear and that if they should cause his death then that is what the fates have chosen. This led for him to feel extremely confused about his own existance following Holly saving his life through healing. Quotes "You know, I'm not entirely sure of what I feel for you, but I know it's something I've never felt for anyone else, I think I do, like you that is, but if we do give up what does that say? I'm not going to give up today. I told you I'll'd be for you and I meant it, just trust me, we may not be the most capible at this but we are still alive, which must mean something right? and if we'd just given up straight away, then we would be dead, but we're not, some people havn't made it, but there are still people alive, and as long as I'm alive I'm going to make sure you stay that way too, but I mean I could just give up and go sit out there and see how long I last that way" (XI-3, Danger Room Chamber. 07/31/09) "But she was a he and his name is Gabriel Betancourt, and he is very pretty, just don't tell him that." (XI-4, Garden Maze, 07/12/10) "Apparently I've been shagging Elle," (XI-5, Solarium, 11/16/10) "No! You can't just kiss me and say your sorry for it! I have no idea what I'm feeling right now. Yes I like TJ but even my feelings for him are confusing and I like you too which actually is really rather confusing and - and - and I have no clue what to do about anything!" (XI-5, Lake, 06/13/11) "I've done a lot of thinking. About us and what I want us to be and where I see myself and you in the future. I didn't know if I should get a ring, because I didn't know if that was something you'd want or not, or how I should do this, but I want you to marry me." (XI-6, Kitchen Island, 06/01/12) "Try not to worry about labelling it too much, I think sometimes that's the hardest part trying to find what fits you because people will tell you different things. Just remember that first and foremost you are you, everything else comes after." (XI-7, IHOP, 08/21/12)